Bonneville Picks WTWP Replacement

Bonneville International Corporation announced today that it will replace Washington Post Radio (WTWP) on 1500 AM, 107.7 FM and 820 AM with a personality-driven station, Talk Radio 3WT (call letters WWWT).

Talk Radio 3WT will feature a lineup of personalities currently heard on the station — David Burd, Jessica Doyle, “The Tony Kornheiser Show,” and Pat Goss — along with established, nationally-recognized personalities Neal Boortz, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Stephanie Miller, as well as play-by-play sports. The station’s slogan will be “Left, Right, and Whatever We Want,” reflecting 3WT’s diverse collection of personalities and opinions.

Earlier this week, Bonneville International Corporation and The Washington Post agreed to end their broadcast alliance which had resulted in the creation of Washington Post Radio.

Washington Post Radio, owned and operated by Bonneville International Corporation, was a collaborative effort which launched in March 2006 and featured station hosts interviewing editors, reporters and columnists at The Washington Post.

“Washington Post Radio was a tremendous experiment in broadcasting, and it was wonderful working with The Washington Post, a world-class newspaper,” says Bonneville D.C. Sr. VP Joel Oxley. “While many advertisers were satisfied with the results the station generated, we just did not garner the Arbitron ratings we had hoped for. When we launched the ‘Tony Kornheiser Show,’ it was met with such success that we realized we needed to take the station in the direction of personality-driven talk with more opinion and less hard news. Since this did not meet the original vision of Washington Post Radio, The Washington Post and Bonneville mutually agreed to end the broadcast alliance.”

“We’ll continue to work together as media professionals as we always have,” Oxley added. “The Washington Post has a huge array of talented people that we’ve featured for years on our radio stations in many capacities, and we will continue to do so. We’re fortunate to have a great relationship with, and access to, one of the finest organizations with some of the best professionals in the world.”

3WT will debut on 1500 AM, 107.7 FM, and 820 AM in Frederick on September 20.